Sunrise Operations Bagshot 11 Limited provides facilities and services for up to 95 older people who require personal or nursing care over three floors. The home is known and referred to as Sunrise of Bagshot. The ground and first floor provides accommodation for people described as requiring assisted living, this part of the home is called the Assisted Living Neighbourhood. The care provided includes a range of care and nursing needs that include minimal support for people up to full nursing care. Some people lead a mainly independent life and used the home’s facilities to support their lifestyle. Other people had various health care needs that included physical and medical conditions that included diabetes, strokes and end of life care. Some people had limited mobility and needed to be supported with moving equipment. A few people lived with mild dementia that required regular prompting and supervision. The second floor provided accommodation for people who were living with a dementia as their prime care need. This unit was called the Reminiscence Neighbourhood.
The Sunrise Senior Living Organisation has a number of homes across the country. Sunrise of Bagshot was purpose built and provided care to privately funded people. At the time of this inspection 61 people were living in the Assisted Living Neighbourhood and 26 people were living in the Reminiscence Neighbourhood.
This inspection took place on 15 and 16 June 2015 and was unannounced.
The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run.
People and visitors spoke positively of the home and people said they felt safe. People told us staff were kind and caring and looked after them well. However all feedback indicated that the staffing levels and the high use of agency staff impacted on the standard of care, with staff rushing to complete their work and agency staff unsure of their responsibilities. We found staff were under pressure to complete their work which meant staff did not have time to provide individual care. Including providing support for people to eat in a relaxed and unhurried manner on the Reminiscence Neighbourhood.
Agency staff did not routinely undertake an induction programme and identified regular agency staff were not being used. This did not support a level of continuity for people or staff. We found staff had not received regular supervision and appraisal to support them in carrying out their duties.
The provider had not ensured a suitable individual risk assessment had been undertaken to ensure people could be safely moved in case of an emergency. This assessment should take account of staffing arrangements.
Medicines were stored, administered and disposed of safely by staff that were suitably trained. However, guidelines and records relating to PRN and topical creams were not always clear and could pose a higher risk that medicines were not given in a consistent way.
The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Relevant guidelines were available within the service for all staff to reference. Staff at all levels had an understanding of consent and caring for people without imposing any restrictions. However there was little evidence that people who lacked capacity had suitable processes followed to ensure staff took account of their individual rights and best interest.
There had been a number of changes within the management team and this was still ongoing with a deputy mangers post in the service being recently vacated. There was mixed feedback about the management team with some staff identifying a lack of appropriate direct management. The management team had not fully established systems to ensure the effective management of staff. However the new registered manager was developing a more open and listening culture within the service.
Quality assurance systems were in place and had identified some shortfalls that needed to be addressed. However key areas around staffing and the provision of regular well motivated staff had not been identified.
Staff responded positively to people’s physical and emotional needs and there were systems in place for staff to share information on people’s changing needs. This included regular hand over sessions. People had access to health care professionals when needed.
Staff working for Sunrise of Bagshot were provided with a full induction and training programme which supported them to meet the needs of people. The registered nurses attended additional training to update and ensure their nursing competency.
Recruitment records showed there were systems in place to ensure staff were suitable to work at the home. Staff had a clear understanding of the procedures in place to safeguard people from abuse.
People were complementary about the food and the choices available. Mealtimes on the Assisted living Neighbourhood were unrushed and people were assisted according to their need. Staff monitored people’s nutritional needs and responded to them.
There was a variety of activity and opportunity for interaction taking place in the service. This took account of people’s physical and health limitations and ability to participate. Visitors told us they were warmly welcomed and felt they could come to the nursing home at any reasonable time.
People were given information on how to make a complaint and said they were comfortable to raise a concern or complaint if need be. A complaints procedure was readily available for people to use.
Feedback was regularly sought from people, relatives and staff. Staff meetings were being held on a regular basis and surveys were used to gain staff views. People were encouraged to share their views on a daily basis and satisfaction surveys were being used.
We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.